AT&T T shares rose 1.6 percent in after-hours trading after closing at $32.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The second-largest U.S. wireless carrier posted a net loss of $4 billion, or 77 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with net income $6.9 billion, or $1.31 per share, a year ago. Excluding items, AT&T earned 55 cents per share, a penny more than analysts’ forecasts.

The company said postpaid churn, or the rate of customer defections, rose to 1.22 percent and average revenue per phone user declined 10.7 percent from a year earlier.

Faced with intense competition and promotional activity, wireless carriers have moved from two-year contract plans to equipment financing plans, which reduce service fees and eliminate subsidies for devices.

As the U.S. wireless market reaches saturation, the company has been expanding its footprint in Mexico to grow its business. It said on Monday it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc’s wireless business in Mexico for $1.875 billion.

In 2015, the company said it expects margin expansion along with adjusted earnings growth in “the low single-digit range.”

AT&T said it had added more than 2 million new wireless customers and 854,000 contract subscribers in the quarter.

Revenue rose to $34.4 billion from $33.16 billion in the year-ago quarter. Wall Street analysts, on average, had expected $34.27 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Watch more Wall Street coverage from Fortune’s video team:

]]>http://fortune.com/2015/01/27/att-fourth-quarter-earnings/feed/0AT&ThuddlestontomMicrosoft says Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for recent buyershttp://fortune.com/2015/01/21/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade/
http://fortune.com/2015/01/21/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 18:08:55 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=954114]]>Windows 10, Microsoft’s first updated version of its computer operating system since 2012, will be offered as a free upgrade for most Windows users, the company said at a product unveiling Wednesday afternoon.

For a limited time -- up to one year after the new operating system launches -- Windows 7 and 8 users will get a free upgrade to Windows 10. In a live-streaming launch event, Microsoft MSFT announced the offer while also highlighting features of the new software, including the addition of Cortana -- the Microsoft digital assistant found on Windows phones -- to PCs. Windows 10 also brings the return of the Windows start menu, which had been removed from the previous iteration of the software.

Windows 8 was introduced in 2012, proving unpopular and failing to gain widespread adoption among Windows users. Microsoft later released an upgraded version, Windows 8.1, but that did little to boost the software’s user numbers.

Windows 10 is the first Microsoft operating system to hit the market under the tenure of new CEO Satya Nadella, who took over for Steve Ballmer last year.

The announcement by Terry Myerson, who runs Microsoft’s operating systems group, is a marked change for the company, which has charged for new versions of Windows, one of the main profit drivers.

The shift shows Microsoft is moving toward a frequently updated, subscription model for its flagship operating system, rather than major, paid-for upgrades every few years.

Online sales today, known as Cyber Monday, jumped 8.1% over last year’s numbers, according to preliminary data from IBM’s Digital Analytics Benchmark. The bump, as of 6 pm ET, follows the National Retail Federation’s announcement that overall retail sales fell 11% over the four-day holiday weekend, suggesting that some shoppers decided to stock up on holiday deals from the comfort of their computers and mobile devices rather than brave a mob scene at stores over the weekend.

IBM IBM previously reported that online sales over the weekend were up 17% over last year.

Cyber Monday, a marketing gimmick pushed by the e-commerce industry, marks the unofficial kick off the busy holiday online shopping season. Many online retailers including the digital operations of big bricks and mortar stores try to entice shoppers by offering discounts.

Despite the buzz, Cyber Monday isn’t actually the busiest day for holiday shopping. That generally comes later in the season, when shipping deadlines for Christmas are looming.

On Monday, shoppers seemed especially keen to scan for sales on their smartphones and tablets, as IBM reported that mobile sales accounted for 20.4% of total online sales on Monday -- an increase of 30.1% over last year.

Interestingly, IBM’s analytics show that smartphone users accounted for more online traffic than tablets -- 27.9% of the total, for smartphones, compared with 10.1% for tablets -- but, consumers mostly used their smartphones for browsing, not purchasing. Tablets accounted for 11% of all online sales on Cyber Monday, while smartphones made up just 9.3%.

What’s more, users of Apple AAPL products did more shopping on Monday than Android users. Sales made via Apple devices accounted for 15.8% of total online sales today, compared to Android users accounting for 4.4% of sales.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/12/01/online-shoppers-give-cyber-monday-a-lift/feed/0rtx15p9uhuddlestontomWhy hasn’t Samsung’s Tizen operating system taken off?http://fortune.com/2014/11/21/samsung-tizen/
http://fortune.com/2014/11/21/samsung-tizen/#commentsFri, 21 Nov 2014 19:08:46 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=848304]]>Samsung has made a lot of money selling smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system. So why is Samsung trying again (and again, and again) to build out a competing operating system?

Android, which is open source, is free for Samsung to install on its Galaxy phones, Note mini-tablets, and other connected devices. It allows Samsung to outsource to Google the concerns of planning of future features, locking down security, and maintaining a marketplace, the Play Store, with more than 1.5 million apps. Best of all, it actually earns Samsung a cut of Google’s mobile advertising revenue.

So why would Samsung bother with its own operating system? Because it can.

Samsung has tried many times to launch a phone running Tizen, an open-source operating system it is co-developing with Intel. It has made many promises along the way, such as using the OS for its high-end flagship devices. This week, it revealed that it would instead chase low-end devices in emerging markets such as India--an acknowledgement that, despite its efforts, Tizen lacks traction. (Neither Samsung nor Google responded to requests for comment.)

The technology community has long questioned the merits of the Tizen project. On one hand, the mobile devices market is largely dominated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, with Microsoft’s Windows Phone and the BlackBerry OS trailing far behind. A strong third player would heighten competition and spur further innovation, and Samsung--a massively successful manufacturer of devices around the globe--is best positioned to be it.

“If anyone can succeed at building that third ecosystem, it’s Samsung,” said Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices, content, and applications at ABI Research. “They make their own CPUs, modems, displays, software . . . it makes sense they would have a strategy to move away from Google, rather than locking themselves into something outside their own control.”

On the other hand, previous operating systems (such as the ill-fated Palm OS) failed to disrupt an apparent duopoly. Less than five percent of smartphones around the world use operating systems that aren’t Android or iOS, according to estimates by IDC, the market research firm. Does the Korean electronics giant really think there’s room for one more?

So hitching oneself to Android seems sensible. Yet while Google’s operating system is free, it is far from without constraints. For Google’s own apps and its Play Store to come pre-installed on a phone, companies like Samsung must sign “Mobile Application Distribution Agreements” that dictate requirements that Google GOOG has for every Android phone and tablet that ships from its partners.

Among them:

Google will be the only search engine used on the device at all “access points” unless the owners themselves download alternatives.

Google’s search bar will be at the top of the foremost home screen on the phone or tablet.

A folder labeled “Google” containing a large number of Google’s apps and prominent placement of certain apps such as Gmail.

Those agreements, according to a September report from The Information, are intended to enforce “consistency in the software experience by device makers.” Even before the newer agreements, there have been “frequent fights about” modifications, “particularly between Google and Samsung,” according to The Information.

Other companies have grabbed Android’s open-source bits while avoiding Google’s demands. Among them: Amazon (for its Kindle Fire tablets and Fire phone) and the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Both technology companies offer versions of Android that look and feel different from Google’s unadulterated version, yet are close enough at their core that developers can easily convert their apps for use in the Amazon Appstore or Xiaomi’s MiMarket. In China, Xiaomi recently overtook Samsung by claiming 16 percent of the country’s smartphone market. In the U.S., Amazon’s Fire phone flopped.

So far, Samsung has succeeded in differentiating its Galaxy phones, Note tablets, and other products from Android-based competitors. Daniel Gleeson, senior analyst with IHS Technology, believes Google’s bundling is not really harming Samsung. “Google is simply better than Samsung at building those apps, and of course they are apps that are widely known and loved by consumers. Samsung's strength is in its hardware engineering, not its software,” Gleeson said.

At the same time, Samsung has been pushing Tizen for use in other types of electronic devices such as cameras, watches, and refrigerators. The corporate market is also an option, says ABI Research’s Orr. Samsung has already made steps into enterprise security with its Knox and SAFE programs; it could conceivably work its way into the workplace where support for popular consumer apps is less of a concern and customization of the operating system is more highly valued.

“For Samsung to boost development (it must) take Tizen to new devices, and hopefully own that space,” IHS Technology’s Gleeson said. “Samsung will need to provide some compelling use cases where Tizen can out-perform Android.”

The clock is ticking. Samsung announced its lowest third-quarter operating profit in three years on Oct. 6, citing flagging sales of its top-end Galaxy phones, heavy marketing and price-cutting to fight the drop, and decreased component orders all around. What’s more, those results came before Apple AAPL launched its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones, which carry larger screens that were once Samsung’s sole purview and sold in record numbers.

A budding Tizen could be a success if it proliferates on devices where Apple and Google aren’t as entrenched. Samsung’s challenge is that those areas seem to be rapidly disappearing.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/11/21/samsung-tizen/feed/0Samsung Z phone TizensoccerrogueSamsung and the curious case of the red OLEDhttp://fortune.com/2014/11/13/samsung-oled-display-tech/
http://fortune.com/2014/11/13/samsung-oled-display-tech/#commentsThu, 13 Nov 2014 16:57:12 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=771969]]>When critics of Samsung see the Korean technology mega-corporation turn out yet another huge, impressively sharp screen for a new phone or tablet computer, it makes them see red.

Well, not red, actually--more like a super-saturated, unrealistically bright version of red.

Samsung is the near-undisputed king of OLED, or organic light-emitting diode, display technology. It has been using its dominant position in that market as a source of stability as it enters an increasingly untenable situation: eroding sales on both ends of the phone price spectrum. On the low end where profit margins are thin, Samsung has been under attack by local manufacturers such as Xiaomi, which have been willing to sacrifice profit for the sake of market share. On the high end where margins are better, rivals such as Apple’s iPhone have proved to be fiercely competitive. Every company in the business hopes that large sales volumes will make their big bets pay off in the end; the question is what will prompt consumers to buy one glassy device over another.

Samsung hopes that display technology will be one of those things as its rivals use less flashy but more trusted screen technology.

Apple’s iPhones and iPads and roughly two-thirds of all smartphones have LCD, or liquid-crystal display, screens. LCDs essentially twist and untwist liquid crystals to allow a certain amount of light through each red, green, or blue sub-pixel, the term for the components that make up each individual pixel in a display. The technology is well-known and well-worn, but it comes with a major downside: liquid crystals provide no light of their own. The necessary backlight that accompanies such displays is a substantial draw on battery life; taken together with the crystals and other necessary technology, such displays make the resulting screen thicker and more rigid.

Most of Samsung’s modern devices have AMOLED (as in “active-matrix organic light-emitting diode”) displays. The technology involves passing a current through tiny, thin films of organic material (red, green, or blue), which cause them to throw off colored light. AMOLED screens generate their own light, so they do not need a backlight. Even better, when the pixels are not needed, they are actually “off,” saving device power and allowing blacks to be deeper and truer than with LCDs. Manufacturing and material improvements have made AMOLED displays thinner, extremely pixel-dense, occasionally curved, and able to display a huge range of colors.

Most importantly, these manufacturing improvements come largely from one single maker: Samsung Display, a division of Samsung Electronics. “There may be a couple of other players, technically, but, really, these displays come from Samsung,” says Vinita Jakhanwal, senior director of analyst firm IHS. “There is no other OLED or AMOLED maker making displays for mobile phones or tablets.”

Samsung certainly wants to talk about its display technology. In a video promotion for its Galaxy Tab S tablet this summer, women purchase salad bowls, dresses, and shoes online, only to sigh in deep exasperation when a different shade of blue-green, yellow, or shale comes out of the box. The Galaxy Tab S, the voice-over claims, displays the “professional RGB standard” and each pixel is a “living pixel, capable of producing a variety of color combinations.” The message: Samsung’s screens are organic, different, and simply better at colors.

In reality, this is the opposite of what many industry pundits claim. The colors displayed on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S, according to Dieter Bohn, an editor for the tech-lifestyle website The Verge, “still tend to look over-saturated to my eyes,” though he added that “Samsung has toned things down considerably from years past.” In an otherwise positive review of a newer Galaxy S5 smartphone model, Anandtech, a computer hardware site, made note of “minor issues with excessive green in the color balance.” In essence, people seem to agree that the colors of AMOLED displays are more vivid. Whether or not those colors are natural or accurate based on what the eye would see in real life is another matter entirely.

Samsung may be sensitive to accusations of color problems because one of its main rivals is on record about it. Apple CEO Tim Cook told a Goldman Sachs investors’ conference in February 2013 that “the color saturation is awful” on OLED displays. He added: “If you ever buy anything online and you want to really know what the color is . . . you should really think twice before you depend on the color of the OLED display.”

Part of the issue has to do with a seeming strength of AMOLED technology. It can create a wider range of colors than other display technologies. While the colors of most images are limited to fit inside the 18-year-old sRGB color gamut, AMOLED screens can technically reach far beyond that range, and Samsung often lets them. Some Samsung devices offer a display-correcting “mode”-- “Professional Photo” is one--but for the most part, Samsung allows colors to run bolder and more saturated, especially in the red part of the visible spectrum.

“The colors look really off to me, but it’s up to you whether you like this effect or not,” says Erica Griffin, an in-depth video device reviewer, in her take on Samsung’s Galaxy S5. “I know Samsung is heading for an effect that’s eye-catching, to get people’s attention . . . For some people, that looks pretty, and for others it’s just an eyesore.”

It’s also a look that may change as you use your device. The organic materials used to make blues in OLED displays wear out far more quickly than the reds or greens. As they start to wear out, the overall balance of color shifts. Samsung and other device makers often try to correct for this--for example, by making blue sub-pixels twice as large--but it remains an unsolved issue.

A Samsung spokesperson pointed to the company’s latest displays, dubbed Quad-HD Super AMOLED, as having “an immersive viewing experience with a high contrast ratio and a wider color range” than the competition. The Galaxy Tab S featured in the aforementioned ad has a dedicated chip in it that can stabilize colors. At its most basic setting, tech site Anandtech says it mostly has the desired effect.

Colors are important on mobile devices for one overarching reason: managed expectations. Knowing that Twitter uses a sky blue color for its logo, it can be jarring for users and marketers alike to see a version with a tinge of green. LCD display technology certainly is not standing still--displays are becoming thinner, brighter, and even more high-definition. But IHS’s Jakhanwal notes that it is more than just colors, battery life, or thinness that gets a device into buyers’ hands.

“The winners are going to be the device that has not just superior display technology, but superior overall performance,” she says. “Nobody is really going to feel good that, ‘Now I have the brightest tablet,’ or ‘Now my colors are more real.’ It’s a combination of features that make the display and the device.” Which may be good reason for Samsung and its market-moving AMOLED research teams more time to move its displays out of the red.

Next, read: “Logged In,” Fortune’s personal technology column, written by Jason Cipriani and published every Tuesday.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/11/13/samsung-oled-display-tech/feed/0452962102soccerrogueA visit to the island of (happily) misfit ‘droidshttp://fortune.com/2014/11/11/google-android-lollipop-review/
http://fortune.com/2014/11/11/google-android-lollipop-review/#commentsTue, 11 Nov 2014 17:39:28 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=859547]]>Have you seen Google’s latest commercials for Android, its mobile operating system? The TV spots are energetic and adorable. They show different people, locations, ceremonies, celebrations, and moments from around the globe. The common thread? Android devices, of course.

Google’s message is simple: Embrace being different. Apple may have once demanded that you think different, but its modern devices are the embodiment of uniformity. Android devices come in more flavors than ice cream at Baskin-Robbins.

It is true that the Android experience can vary. Each device manufacturer takes Google’s open source operating system and customizes it. For example, you’ll see different tweaks to the design of the user interface, commonly referred to as a “skin.” Samsung, for example, is known for its TouchWiz skin. HTC is known for Sense. Motorola is known for its “Pure” experience. And Google naturally installs an unadulterated version of Android on its own Nexus-branded devices. No two settings menus are the same.

The differentiation has been a negative point for some, but Google GOOG has chosen to embrace it ahead of the launch of the new version of its Android operating system, version 5.0, referred to as “Lollipop.” The new software, which will be distributed over the air starting tomorrow, is a major release for the company, and it accompanies a slate of new Nexus devices: a six-inch phone called the Nexus 6, a nine-inch tablet called the Nexus 9, and TV streaming device called the Nexus Player. (The Nexus 5 phone, which was introduced last year, is also available.)

Yet when I tested the operating system for myself, it became clear that Google’s embrace of being different was mostly marketing. Sure, mobile devices are exceptionally personal. But Lollipop is Google’s strongest effort yet to ensure that Android devices have the same singular experience whether phone, tablet, or television--at least with regard to its own Nexus line.

Not that there aren’t important changes. For the last week, I lived inside Google’s Lollipop world by using all three new Nexus devices. The software’s new design demonstrates attention to detail that wasn’t entirely present in the previous Android operating system, version 4.4 “KitKat.” For example, you'll find a slight pulse emanate when you select a button. Menu shades slide off the screen with ease.

In addition to playful animations, there are functional design changes. Instead of pulling down the notification shade to access alerts on a locked device, you can interact with them directly on the lock screen. (What kind of alerts, you ask? Archive an incoming email or “heart” a friend’s Swarm check-in, for example.)

Lollipop also offers the ability to create additional user accounts so that you may share a phone or tablet with a friend without handing over access to your personal data. During testing, I created an account for my kids on the Nexus 9 and Nexus 6 with access only to Netflix, PBS Kids, and handful of games. Distraction without destruction was only a few taps away. (Until they drop it, anyway.)

There are other changes of note. I very much liked the way the window-switching view placed them in a playing card-like stack; it made it easy to multi-task between apps. And I liked how voice search was integrated into the Nexus Player--it wasn’t hard to find something to entertain my family. In all, the Android experience is more consistent in Lollipop--compared to previous versions, but also between devices.

Sound familiar? It should. It's the same approach Apple has long trumpeted as a key selling point for its portfolio of iOS and OS X devices. It's also the same approach that Samsung, a longtime Google partner, has adopted for its own Android devices.

Today, when Google releases a new version of Android, its Nexus line is the first to receive it. Partners such as Samsung and HTC can take months to release updates that have been customized to their liking, by which time Google may have already released another update. Then the cycle repeats. The Android experience was indeed different, but it was also broken--exacerbated by the fact that Google sold comparably few of its own Nexus devices.

That’s all changed with Lollipop. Tired of waiting for its hardware partners to get the operating system in front of consumers, Google is touting its own devices as the best option. It’s a decision that may cause friction between it and its partners but will likely force them to keep up, in the end a benefit to the Android ecosystem. And it’s probably the most important “feature” of them all.

I don’t mind. Android is already plenty different from iOS and the rest. A little focus will go a long way.

"Logged In" is Fortune's personal technology column, written by Jason Cipriani. Read it on Fortune.com each Tuesday.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/11/11/google-android-lollipop-review/feed/0Google's Nexus 9 tablet.soccerrogueAn iPad best for work, not playhttp://fortune.com/2014/11/04/apple-ipad-air-review/
http://fortune.com/2014/11/04/apple-ipad-air-review/#commentsWed, 05 Nov 2014 00:06:41 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=849989]]>When modern tablet computers first arrived to market, many people thought they would be primarily used to consume, rather than create, content. And who could argue? Without a keyboard or mouse, and only a stubby finger to flick, creation seemed like it would be troublesome at best.

My, how things change. My Apple iPad has quickly become an indispensable tool for work. For the last two years I've worked from an iPad on a daily basis. I often tout it as my favorite computer even when I’m asked to compare it to my iMac, a full-fledged desktop, or MacBook Air, a featherweight laptop. The iPad’s portability, day-long battery life, and built-in cellular connection--not to mention the broad selection of apps--only help.

As the winter holiday season approaches each year, I find myself more excited for Apple's iPad event than I am for its iPhone event, which typically precedes it. This year was no different: right on schedule in October, Apple introduced an updated iPad lineup.

The improved iPad line comes at a time when Apple AAPL has seen a decline in that product’s sales for three consecutive quarters. The decline itself coincides with a trend in which smartphones, including Apple’s own iPhone, are growing in size. The shift blurs the line between phone and tablet, and prompts the question: where should the iPad fit in our lives?

The new iPad Air 2 (the most notable model of the new crop) offers a display with improved color and contrast, a slimmer profile, and Apple’s fingerprint scanning technology. It also has a faster processor and more storage.

I spent two weeks testing the iPad Air 2, and at the end of my time with the device, I found myself equally impressed and disappointed. The tablet is impressively responsive and smooth when it comes to scrolling through documents or web pages and launching applications. Yet when I set aside the physical keyboard that I used with the device and attempted to use it strictly as a mobile device, I often felt as if the iPad was nothing more than an extra screen offering bigger pictures and larger text than my phone.

(It should come as no surprise that I have been using Apple’s new iPhone 6 Plus in recent weeks, which I’m sure helped contribute to the feeling.)

Instead of picking up my iPad to read an article or watch a video on YouTube, I would find myself remaining with the iPhone, the experience just as pleasant. Anecdotally, friends have told me similar scenarios: since upgrading to the iPhone 6 Plus, their iPad sits on a shelf, collecting dust.

The similarities are underscored by the fact that the latest version of iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, is exceedingly similar between the iPad, iPad mini and iPhone 6 Plus. For example, there is now enough room on the iPhone for two column-views in landscape mode, something only the larger iPad previously enjoyed.

But that’s alright. If the tablet is the new laptop, the blurred line between it and the phone matters less, and there may be room for growth at the other end--certainly from a productivity standpoint. I would love to see Apple release a physical keyboard built specifically for the iPad and with software support for custom interactions and auto-correct. I would love the ability to run two apps in a split-screen arrangement, for example. And going out on limb that's sure to fall, I'd love to see Apple bring more information to the home screen using widgets. Yes, widgets.

Despite these shortcomings, I developed an appreciation for the iPad Air 2. I found the addition of the tablet’s fingerprint sensor for secure access convenient (it works with the handy password manager 1Password) and a productivity boost. The recently released Pixelmator for iPad, an image editor, combined with the new model’s improved graphics performance has helped reaffirm it as a PC replacement for me.

But let’s be honest: My use case is far from the norm. I've spent countless hours and dollars researching apps and accessories in order to make the iPad work for me. I have forced the iPad to fit into my life. The average person is less likely to invest that kind of time. For those people, that burden lies at Apple's feet.

"Logged In" is Fortune's personal technology column, written by Jason Cipriani. Read it on Fortune.com each Tuesday.

That's the phrase I uttered to myself when I first unboxed BlackBerry's latest smartphone, the Passport.

Why should I care about the device's odd 4.5-inch square screen? Why should I care that the device is the same size and shape as its namesake? Why should I care that Amazon's App Store is preinstalled on the Passport?

Okay, okay, forgive my skepticism. There’s a lot to love about the Passport. It’s the first product launch under BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who took over the struggling company last November. In an effort to turn it around, Chen said he wanted to return to the Canadian company’s roots by providing devices and services that appeal to large companies, a.k.a. the enterprise.

BlackBerry BBRY positions its oddly shaped device--which certainly succeeds at drawing attention to the company--as the ultimate productivity tool for those who want to get work done. If the marketing sounds familiar, it is: In recent years, BlackBerry has let out a business-focused battle cry with every major product release. It’s as if the company is saying, “Please, forgive us for the pink BlackBerry Pearl Flip.” Or perhaps, “Here is a phone that won’t run Flappy Bird.”

In truth, the Passport’s screen lends itself to displaying more information without forcing you to rotate the device, as you will often do with a phone of more conventional proportions. I found the screen quality to be on par with, if not slightly better than, Apple’s iPhone and most high-end Android devices on the market.

And you know what? The Passport may be a square, but I came to appreciate its dimensions. In testing, I grew to respect its wider view, unobstructed by a digital keyboard--though I would gladly forfeit screen space to make room for a more classically sized BlackBerry keyboard. (More on that in a moment.)

I also came to appreciate a feature called BlackBerry Blend, new in version 10.3 of the company’s mobile operating system. No, it’s not some smoothie--it’s a service that allows you to access the content and messages on your phone from your desktop computer, even if you’ve left it at home (or in the car, or in your office desk drawer). After a few initial connection hiccups, I found myself frequently connecting to the Passport from my Apple Mac desktop computer and Apple iPad.

As for that keyboard: It’s much different than the physical keyboards found on other BlackBerry devices. The Passport’s keyboard is limited to three rows (the classic BlackBerry arrangement is four). The bottom row is split by a spacebar. The shift and symbol keys, normally found flanking the space bar, now reside on the screen in digital form.

Like most people, I use a virtual keyboard on my personal phone. I found it a struggle to readjust to a physical keyboard. The first day I felt like I was blindly mashing the keys in an effort to elicit coherent words from it. (Luckily, BlackBerry 10 includes a mechanism to correct misspelled words, even when a physical keyboard is used.) The pain eased over time. Still, I’m not sure that traditional BlackBerry users who are quick to profess admiration for the classic BlackBerry keyboard would be singing praises of the Passport’s version.

Moreover, the Passport’s keyboard has a secondary function: it’s a covert trackpad. You can swipe your finger over it to scroll through spreadsheets, navigate emails, and delete words. With a double tap, activate the text selection tool to precisely edit a document.

Once you find the functionality, it’s a novelty--then it wears off. I found it awkward to ignore a fully capable touchscreen to use the keyboard as a trackpad. What’s more, I repeatedly activated the text selection tool as I deliberately typed, which changed the focus of the cursor and thus the destination of my entered text. Frustrating.

I wanted to love the ingenuity of the Passport’s combination trackpad-keyboard, but I failed to have the "Aha!" moment I was so desperately looking for.

By the end of my testing, I wasn't sad to put the Passport down. It’s hard not to respect the device’s bold departure from norms in the category, and there’s clearly a niche market for a device like this. But for the vast majority of BlackBerry users still clutching legacy devices, the Passport is not the BlackBerry you're looking for. And for those who have moved on to other platforms? It’s difficult to go back.

Why should we care about the Passport? After spending quality time with it, I still don't have a solid answer to that question. I do know people are talking about it, and by extension, its maker. Now that I think about it, perhaps that was the point.

"Logged In" is Fortune's personal technology column, written by Jason Cipriani. Read it on Fortune.com each Tuesday.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/10/14/review-blackberry-passport/feed/0BlackBerry Passport (front) (wide)soccerrogueFor Apple’s newest iPhones, taking ‘upgrade’ literallyhttp://fortune.com/2014/09/30/review-apple-iphone-6-plus/
http://fortune.com/2014/09/30/review-apple-iphone-6-plus/#commentsWed, 01 Oct 2014 03:59:18 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=805793]]>“Bigger than Bigger” is the tagline Apple adopted to describe its latest iPhone lineup. Indeed, the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are bigger than last year’s models, the 5C and 5S, which have 4-inch displays. The new models have 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens, respectively, but there’s much more to the pair than just screen size.

Sure, there’s a new processor, the A8, which promises to be faster and more power-efficient. There’s the new M8 co-processor, which tracks your activity using the phone’s myriad sensors, including a barometer to measure elevation changes. There’s the new display, which promises improved contrast and wider viewing angles, even while wearing polarized sunglasses. And there are the tweaks to the software that powers its 8-megapixel camera: improved face detection, auto-focus, video stabilization, and slow-motion capture.

The list of iterative improvements is long. There’s little doubt that the new iPhones are the best Apple AAPL has ever made.

But that’s not the goal of this latest crop. Apple’s new iPhones are, perhaps for the first time, openly courting the Google GOOG Android users who walked out of Apple’s garden when iOS devices turned stale, looking for a taller glass of milk.

Samsung, the Korean company that has come to bedevil Apple in recent years, first released a larger-format phone in 2011. People scoffed at the Galaxy Note, which carried a 5.3-inch screen, because it didn’t fit the mold at the time. Was it a phone? Was it a tablet? The answer: a “phablet.” The name was as ugly as the phone was perceived to be.

Quite a lot of people like using a phone with a bigger screen, it turns out. Each of Samsung's Note models has broken the 10 million unit mark in the last three years. Total Galaxy Note sales are over 50 million. The Note 4 is expected to debut on October 17, no doubt further support for a new trend in which large-screened phones--sorry, phablets--eat into tablet computer sales.

And guess who sells an awful lot of tablets?

There’s a lot riding on the iPhones 6 and 6 Plus. The larger format presents new problems for Apple. The devices’ predecessors were perfected for one-handed use. The new models must rely on software to compensate for the extra screen real estate.

For example, the new devices allow you to swipe in from either edge of the screen for easy navigation, forward or backwards, within a mobile application. Developers can now add a two-pane view to apps, activated when you rotate the iPhone 6 Plus into landscape mode. The new view is similar to what you’d see on an iPad, only smaller.

“Reachability” is another feature that you would not have seen on earlier, smaller iPhone models. Activated by quickly tapping (not pressing) the home button twice, the feature pulls the top half of the screen down and places the furthest on-screen buttons or icons within a thumb’s reach. The point of the feature, which I initially had pegged as a gimmick, is to eliminate the need to use two hands to manipulate the larger device. In testing, I came to appreciate it, especially on the larger iPhone 6 Plus.

In a bid to woo those coveted Android users, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 8, incorporates widgets--the term used for miniature applications that draw on information from larger ones--in its Notification Center. The absence of widgets in iOS is something for which passionate Android users have long mocked about their iPhone-wielding peers. With the new iPhones, Apple finally evens the score.

The new phones also come with support for Apple Pay, the company’s new mobile payments service. Unfortunately, the feature won’t go live until later this month, so I was unable to test it.

And what of battery life, you ask? Satisfactory for both. During testing, I was able to pull the iPhone 6 through a day of heavy usage with enough juice left over to carry into the early lunch hour on day two. The 6 Plus, meanwhile, was able to power through the same amount of time with a couple of hours to spare. If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ll be pleased with the phones’ performance--just don’t cry foul when one doesn’t fit into the cup holder of your rental car.

Which brings me to my final point: portability. If you’re an iPhone 5 or 5S user, the larger iPhone 6 requires only minor adjustment to your habits. It should slide right into the back pocket of your favorite pair of jeans, at least for most people.

The much larger iPhone 6 Plus is a different story. It doesn’t completely disappear into a back jeans pocket, and you’ll be promptly reminded of that fact when you forget to remove it before sitting down. (And for those of you who are concerned about bent iPhones, I say only this: No iPhones were harmed in the making of this article.)

Both models fit just fine into the breast pocket of my suit jacket as well as the front pocket on a pair of slacks.

With larger sizes and a collection of minor improvements, can Apple’s latest iPhones woo Android users back into the fold? It’s possible, though Apple’s new devices seem to merely close the gap between the two warring factions.

In truth, I wonder about Apple’s millions of existing customers that will be forced to upgrade to a larger phone. As I tested both devices, I found it a struggle to retrain my mind and hand to adapt to using a larger device. It’s a matter of personal preference, and I’m told it gets easier with time. But if phone-tablet hybrids truly are the future of personal computing, count me out, at least for the time being. I just can’t wrap my hand around it.

"Logged In" is Fortune's personal technology column, written by Jason Cipriani. Read it on Fortune.com each Tuesday.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/09/30/review-apple-iphone-6-plus/feed/0soccerrogueWith new tablets and e-readers, Amazon smoldershttp://fortune.com/2014/09/17/amazon-new-kindle-reader-fire-tablet/
http://fortune.com/2014/09/17/amazon-new-kindle-reader-fire-tablet/#commentsThu, 18 Sep 2014 02:53:43 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=792215]]>The Amazon product manager, tall and wide-eyed with a crooked smile more disarming than devious, lifted the tablet computer up to the level of his chin. "It's 20% lighter than the iPad Air," he said, lightly bobbing it with one hand gripping its beveled black bezel. It certainly was light, though calling it featherweight would be a stretch. You could see by the way the muscles in his forearm flexed that it still had a little bit of heft. I confirmed my suspicion when I repeated the motion myself.

It's a good-looking object, this tablet, with its magnesium shell and angles that recall a hand-drawn Optimus Prime. It ought to be. As Amazon's newest flagship model, dubbed the Fire HDX and measuring 8.9 inches from opposing corners, its sole mission is to, like a heat-seeking missile screaming across the desert sky, take out Apple's formidable iPad, which by timing (first) and technology (slick) remains the dominant force in the category. The pricey iPad is so ubiquitous that some people use the brand name interchangeably with the term tablet, like "Band-Aid." Good for Apple, less so for Amazon.

On Wednesday night, the Seattle-based company AMZN announced a number of new products intended to get the jump on the holiday season and, perhaps for only a moment, capture attention before its Cupertino, Calif.-based rival AAPL seizes it once more. Among them are a compact, sophisticated flagship e-reader called the Kindle Voyage ($199); a redesigned, touch-enabled economy e-reader called simply Kindle ($79); an entry-level tablet computer in two sizes and five colors called Fire HD ($99 to $139); and a children's tablet computer with a bulbous, Shrek-like rubber case called Fire HD Kids Edition ($149 to $189) that, to the expected delight of stressed parents and caretakers everywhere, comes with a novel two-year warranty stipulating that Amazon will replace a broken tablet for free, no questions asked.

Amazon’s Fire HDX 8.9 tablet computer.

Yet it is the $379 Fire HDX, with its high-resolution (339 pixels per inch, if you must know) display and dynamic light control (so as to tint the digital display to match the warmth of a real piece of paper), where Amazon's success will be measured. Though its latest advances in its classic e-readers are admirable, it already controls the category. (Sorry, Samsung.) And cheap economy tablets, which are now sold in pharmacies among other places, are no way to win the category profitably. (Not that the company ever looked to turn a profit on hardware in the first place. "Our business model is to price them at cost and make money during their use," another product manager told me, plainly.) With the Fire HDX, Amazon goes head to head with the most wealthy technology company on the planet.

Which may be why the company's employees, stationed all around the intimate penthouse level of the Milk Studios on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in New York's chic Chelsea neighborhood, couldn't help but reference It That Shall Not Be Named. "It's got a million more pixels than iPad Air," the first product manager said of the Fire HDX. Later, as he demonstrated its dynamic light feature, he added: "When you look at the iPad, it's a little blue--a little unnatural." Another Amazon employee, describing the availability of features in the latest version of the company's Fire mobile operating system (version 4, known as "Sangria"), took a more subtle dig: "Most of our best features are available across ecosystems. We don't like to lock our stuff in." Message received.

There is a lot riding on these devices, which can be ordered immediately and will ship in early October. The company's most ambitious shot across Apple's bow to date, its Fire phone, was received poorly despite a great deal of anticipation. Mere months after its June introduction, the device is selling for a pittance, an uncharacteristically public misstep for a company that has proven skilled at hiding failure.

Amazon’s new Kindle Voyage e-reader.Courtesy: Amazon.com

The new crop of tablets and e-readers seem to be on more stable footing. The Kindle Voyage e-reader is confidently engineered, with a flush, glare-resistant display (courtesy of a process it calls "micro-etching") and bezel sensors that, when pressed, vibrate pleasantly to "turn" the page. It's clearly the kind of unobtrusive device you'd want to have on hand during a nonstop flight to Hong Kong. The Fire HD tablets were hardy and unflappable. Meanwhile, the Fire HDX was smooth and jitter-free as I swiped through menus and applications and watched a scene from--you guessed it--the big-budget film Transformers. Among other things, Amazon's new tablets come with free, unlimited cloud storage for photos. The service, relegated to a single bullet point during its presentation, may be the company's most aggressive feature of all. ("This iPad cannot be backed up because there is not enough iCloud storage available" nightmares abound.)

It is interesting that Amazon sought to introduce its new devices in such a quiet way, seated among handfuls of under-caffeinated reporters perched on low-slung couches in a room decorated, rumor has it, by Amazon expressly for the occasion. (Objets d’art: wine glasses, the late 1970s electronic game Simon, a jar of jelly beans, a miniature Roy Lichtenstein print, a book about military aircraft called Fighter: Technology, Facts, History.) Perhaps it still felt burned from the high-wattage introduction of the faltering Fire phone. Or maybe, a month before Apple is expected to introduce its own new tablet computers, it didn't want to invite comparison.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/09/17/amazon-new-kindle-reader-fire-tablet/feed/0Amazon's new Fire HDX 8.9 tablet computer.soccerrogueAmazon's Fire HDX 8.9 tablet computer.Amazon's new Kindle Voyage e-reader.How to use a tablet in a job interviewhttp://fortune.com/2014/07/18/job-interview-technology/
http://fortune.com/2014/07/18/job-interview-technology/#commentsFri, 18 Jul 2014 13:37:33 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=749287]]>Dear Annie: Please settle a disagreement. A friend and I are both looking for new jobs right now, and I've been on a few interviews where I've left my cell phone, laptop, etc., in my car. I think bringing devices to an interview makes you look rude and unprofessional, as if you're not interested enough in the discussion to cut out any possible distractions.

My friend says that's an old-school attitude. He thinks it's fine to bring a cell phone to an interview if you are expecting an important call (from the office: we're both project managers), as long as you explain ahead of time that you may have to take it. Who is right? --Curious in Cleveland

Dear C.C.: You are, with one major exception. "An interview is one or more people trying to get to know you," says Bill Rosenthal, CEO of communications coaching firm Communispond. So, even though constantly checking a phone has become commonplace (one recent study found that managers look at their smartphones an average of 45 times a day), "it's still rude to leave your phone turned on, let alone answer it, during an interview." An apology beforehand for having to take an important call may help a little. Or it may not.

Tablets, on the other hand, are a different story. "Using a tablet can help make you a stronger and more memorable candidate," says Rosenthal. "Since the interview is about exchanging information, and so much of it is easily available online, why not take advantage of that?" A picture is worth a thousand words. If you're a web designer, for instance, showing an interviewer the sites you've done, instead of trying to describe them, makes loads of sense.

"But no matter what field you're in, a tablet can support what you're trying to get across," Rosenthal says. "You can show a diagram that illustrates the process you used to achieve a goal, or a bar chart that tracks the results of your last project. You can show photos."

The only limit, he adds, is "the relevance of the information. Start by identifying what you want the interviewer to know about your work. Are you presenting yourself as, perhaps, a team player, a team leader, a problem-solver, an innovator, or a revenue generator? Once you know how you want to position yourself, you can identify, or create, some displays that support what you're saying."

Of course, you could use a laptop, but a tablet is better because it's smaller, so "it's easier to hand back and forth. Encourage the interviewer to touch and swipe the information, which is more active--and more interesting--than just sitting and talking," Rosenthal says. "If you're being interviewed by more than one person, they can pass it around."

A few points of tablet etiquette: First, keep the device "handy but unobtrusive. Don't bring it out until it will help you to answer a question or make a point, and then ask if it's okay to use it," Rosenthal advises. If so, "look for opportunities to say, 'I can show you...' during the conversation." Then, give the interviewer a chance to look at what you're referring to, before you explain it. And, while you're talking, keep your eyes on him or her, not on the screen.

Make sure the interviewer can see the screen at all times, "maybe by setting it on the desk between you," Rosenthal suggests. "Try to avoid scrolling through anything with the screen facing you, so that the other person can't see it, or it will look as if you're hiding something."

It's also a good idea to practice beforehand, "to make sure you can quickly find what you want to show, instead of having to fumble around looking for it," he adds. "You want to come across as organized and professional, just as you would if your presentation were on paper."

One more tip: Turn off notifications on the tablet before you go in, since "you don't want to get pinged by messages during the interview," Rosenthal says. "You want your tablet to enhance the discussion, not distract from it."

Of course, your phone-toting friend might point out that anything you can access online is probably also available on a cell phone, but "the real estate is too small," Rosenthal says. "You don't want anyone having to squint at that tiny screen."

The general rule for whether or not to bring any electronic device (or, for that matter, anything else) to an interview: "If it doesn't add anything substantive--or, even worse, if it could possibly be an annoyance--then by all means leave it in the car."

Talkback: Have you, or would you ever, take a tablet to a job interview? If you're a hiring manager, would you have any objection? Leave a comment below.

Have a career question for Anne Fisher? Email askannie@fortune.com.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/07/18/job-interview-technology/feed/0tabletAnnieCher Wang: A visionary tech founder returnshttp://fortune.com/2014/07/07/cher-wang-htc/
http://fortune.com/2014/07/07/cher-wang-htc/#commentsMon, 07 Jul 2014 11:00:12 +0000http://fortune.com/?p=734462]]>Founders who go back to save their company from the brink of extinction have a mixed record. The second coming of Apple's Steve Jobs was an unequivocal success, while Jerry Yang's return to Yahoo was an unequivocal failure. And the jury is still out on Michael Dell's efforts to revive his namesake computer maker.

Now HTC, a struggling Taiwan-based smartphone maker, is pinning its hopes of redemption on co-founder and chairwoman Cher Wang. Last year under pressure from agitated investors, Wang, 55, resumed day-to-day involvement. She hasn't officially assumed a new title--she insists she's merely there to support current CEO Peter Chou--but she's actively working on marketing, building relationships with telephone companies that carry HTC devices, and, crucially, helping lift morale among employees, who have been battered by the handset maker's loss of ?business and an exodus of senior executives.

It is no surprise that Wang (rhymes with "gong") prefers a more behind-the-scenes role at HTC, which she co-founded in 1997. Despite her wealth (estimated net worth: $1.6 billion) and the fact that she's the daughter of Taiwanese tycoon Wang Yung-Ching, founder of petrochemicals conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, Wang maintains a low profile and eschews many of the trappings of wealth. She's been known to fly on discount carrier Southwest Airlines and favors a uniform of simple black suits. But she has serious technology chops: She founded chipset maker Via Technologies before HTC. "I started HTC because of the vision I had a long time ago," Wang tells Fortune. "I really wanted to do handheld computers." Indeed, HTC stands for "high-tech computer."

Wang's combination of humility and tech prowess may be exactly what HTC needs to rebound from its ignominious fall. After bursting on to the scene as a wholesale phone maker for Global 500 companies such as Hewlett-Packard (No. 50 on the Global 500), HTC shifted to marketing phones under its own name. The company scored a big win in 2008 when Google (No. 162) selected HTC to partner with it on the first phone to run on its Android operating system.

For a time HTC was on a roll. Emboldened by its success, management began to focus on high-end devices that would compete with Apple's AAPL iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line. Revenue in 2010 climbed to $9.6 billion. But by Christmas 2011 the company had started to make execution errors. Management missed sales projections, and a critically admired new smartphone, the HTC One X, failed to reverse the decline. Supply issues plagued the company, as did a lack of marketing focus. Even a phone launched with Facebook FB in 2013, which featured the social networking giant's "Facebook Home" interface, flopped and was quickly discounted by its exclusive carrier, AT&T T. As HTC fumbled, Apple and Samsung solidified their positions at the top of the mobile food chain. HTC, once the top seller of Android-powered phones, eventually slipped from the list of the world's top 10 smartphone makers. "In the beginning, the competition was not as severe," says Wang. "We didn't think marketing was as important--we thought the product was more important than marketing. And we didn't know how to communicate with the customer."

Wang's return has yet to improve HTC's financial performance. Revenue in 2013 fell 30% to $6.85 billion, and the company lost $44.6 million. Revenue for the recent quarter slipped 23% from the year before. And competing with Apple, Samsung, and a growing number of cheaper Chinese manufacturers, isn't likely to get any easier.

Employees say Wang's presence has already started to make a difference. She's traversed the globe, meeting with employees and key suppliers and customers--including the chairman of China Mobile, the largest cellphone operator in the world by customers. "It's been inspiring for the organization because you have somebody who's really kind of an understated icon in the smartphone world," says Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC's North America operations.

Wang comes from a family of accomplished business executives. In addition to her highly successful father, who ran his plastics empire until his death at age 92, her sister Charlene co-founded motherboard maker First International Computer in 1980. Another sibling, Winston, started a China-based semiconductor company. "They are a fascinating family," says Steve Zelencik, the former chief marketing officer of Advanced Micro Devices. Back when Wang started her career, working for her sister's company in the 1980s, she was in charge of buying components from AMD AMD. "She showed up as just a kid out of college, but she adapted quickly," says Zelencik, now retired from the tech industry.

In fact, Wang spent much of her teen years learning how to adapt. At 15, she was sent from Taipei, Taiwan, to Berkeley to attend high school and eventually the University of California at Berkeley. A devout Christian, Wang lived with a Jewish host family, where she was exposed to new foods, customs, and responsibilities. "Wednesdays were my day to cook," Wang recalls. "I didn't know how to, so they soon became Chinese restaurant night."

Wang's mother, Wang Yung-Ching's second of three partners, eventually also left Taiwan and settled in the Bay Area. "She didn't take any money with her," says Wang. "She learned English and got her driver's license when she was 60."

Wang tears up when she talks about her parents. Her father, clearly a prominent figure in her life, wrote her 10-page letters describing his business experiences. "I had to write back or he would be upset," says Wang during an interview at the Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park, Calif. (She splits her time between the Bay Area and Taipei, close to where HTC is based.)

After spending her formative years with her sister's company, Wang helped build Via Technologies in the late 1980s. Later, through acquisition and investment, Wang and a small team of executives drifted into the phone business. "At that time I interviewed everyone," Wang says of HTC's early days. "I would tell them the vision. Peter [Chou] was the first one to believe."

Wang continues to place faith in Chou's ability to turn around the company they built together. " Now I can focus on building new products and new product categories," says Chou, who has reportedly said he would step down if the company's current family of smartphones didn't succeed. "She is my biggest supporter." She's also HTC's largest shareholder, and she's seen the value of her holdings plunge 90% since 2011. Wang may be modest, but if HTC's slide continues, few would be surprised if she pulls a Steve Jobs-like return.

This story is from the July 21, 2014 issue of Fortune.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/07/07/cher-wang-htc/feed/0SER.07.21.14mlevramTablet shipments post first year-over-year decline, analyst firm sayshttp://fortune.com/2014/05/28/tablet-shipments-post-first-year-over-year-decline-analyst-firm-says/
http://fortune.com/2014/05/28/tablet-shipments-post-first-year-over-year-decline-analyst-firm-says/#commentsWed, 28 May 2014 22:58:50 +0000http://beta.fortune.com/?p=499461]]>FORTUNE–Worldwide tablet shipments dropped 4.6% in the first quarter from a year ago, according to NPD DisplaySearch, though the report’s author says that pocket of the tech sector see improved profits as average prices are expected to climb.

NPD DisplaySearch reported tablet shipments totaled 56.3 million units in the first quarter, down from 59 million a year ago. The slowdown threatens to drag lower the overall mobile PC market, with many major brands including Apple Inc. AAPL, Google Inc. GOOG, and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN reporting fewer tablet shipments. Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF only posted a 2% increase.

It was the first year-over-year decline DisplaySearch has reported since it began tracking such figures in 2011. The decline leads some to wonder: what’s next? Some tech observers had hoped the much-hyped wearable category would be the next pocket of scorching growth though NPD earlier this month predicted that market would begin to slow down quickly.

Richard Shim, senior analyst for DisplaySearch, told Fortune that while tablet sales fell in the first quarter, the overall consumption of hardware devices continues to increase.

“What we are witnessing is a shift in the personalization of mobile devices,” Shim said. “We are moving more toward a convenience-based consumer experience. The device is becoming more intertwined with the user.”

With tablet sales slowing, Shim expects manufacturers will focus less on volumes and more on margins and revenue. He expects average selling prices will pick up. Shim also sees greater diversity of screen sizes and improved resolution–both trends that could inspire greater consumer interest and loftier selling prices.

That trend can put the tablet industry on a path toward improved profitability. Shim expects those higher quality devices–with larger screens and greater resolution–will mainly be sold in mature markets, as the industry’s players continue to roll out low-cost devices in emerging markets.

]]>http://fortune.com/2014/05/28/tablet-shipments-post-first-year-over-year-decline-analyst-firm-says/feed/0140428084558-student-with-digital-tablet-620xaclyons2014A mobile OS war looms in Asiahttp://fortune.com/2014/03/13/a-mobile-os-war-looms-in-asia/
http://fortune.com/2014/03/13/a-mobile-os-war-looms-in-asia/#commentsThu, 13 Mar 2014 18:55:04 +0000http://test-alley.fortune.com/2014/03/13/a-mobile-os-war-looms-in-asia/]]>Rivals to Google's GOOG Android and Apple's AAPL iOS operating systems have emerged in Asia, suggesting that a fierce global war over dominance in mobile computing is imminent.

The first contender for shaking up the world's $341.4-billion mobile handset market is the China Operating System (COS), developed jointly by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and private-sector partner Liantong Network Communications Technology.

The second up-and-comer with similarly large ambitions is Tizen, developed by South Korean electronics giant Samsung with a consortium of partners that includes U.S. microchip giant Intel INTC, Japan’s Fujitsu, China’s Huawei, and European mobile carrier Vodafone VOD. Samsung not only wants Tizen to become as big a brand name as Google's Android and Apple's iOS, it also wants to see its software used in cars, smart appliances, and televisions.

Both COS and Tizen will likely be released in the second quarter; China Telecom and China Mobile are currently testing the COS platform, and Samsung recently launched a Tizen digital camera in South Korea.

American companies have a near-monopoly over the software that powers mobile communication. Do the two Asian entrants have what it takes to mount a full-frontal assault on their dominance? COS and Tizen have the potential to deliver a serious blow to the fortunes of both Android and iOS — despite the fact that these two global monsters have a seemingly unshakeable lock on 96% of the market.

Google's Android is particularly vulnerable to a competing OS because it's used by a long list of original equipment manufacturers who could drop Android like a hot potato if a better OS comes along.

Consider that five out of the top seven smartphones sold in China are made by Chinese companies: Lenovo, Huawei, Yulong, Xiaomi, and ZTE. If they were all to switch from Android to COS — say, with a little persuasion from the Chinese government on grounds of national security — then Android could be shut out of one of the world's biggest wireless markets virtually overnight.

Still, conquering China will be an uphill battle. "Some of the vendors may do one or two devices if pressured by the government," says Sandy Shen, research director in Gartner's Shanghai office, "but they cannot afford to lose market share or suffer losses only to support the Chinese OS."

Analysts also question the capabilities of Shanghai-based Liantong Network Communications, which led development of the Linux-based COS. "It was established in 2012 with less than 150 people," says Gene Cao, a senior analyst with Forrester Research in Beijing. "It takes time for a new OS to improve stability, which normally needs hundreds of version updates like Android."

Meanwhile Samsung's strategic advantage is that fact that it makes 63% of all Android-powered smartphones and tablets on the market today. If it were to put its full weight behind Tizen, Google stands to lose more than half its Android customers.

"I don’t think Samsung will abandon Android in favor of Tizen because its flagship Galaxy smartphones are practically equated with Android," says Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s mobile phone team in Framingham, Mass. "To switch them over to Tizen, or any other operating system, risks alienating its core user base. I expect Samsung to offer Tizen-powered smartphones alongside its Android-powered ones."

It’s possible that analysts underestimate the raw ambition of the Asian newcomers. For example, the group behind COS claims to have fixed many bugs in the original Linux kernel, including security risks that render foreign-made operating systems like Android vulnerable to surveillance and data theft. With the new enhancements, and an online app store in development, COS is betting it can become the OS of choice for Chinese home computers and smartphones.

Samsung has even more ambitious plans for Tizen. In addition to using it across all its consumer electronics, including wearable devices, the company is talking to Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover about bringing Tizen to automobiles. It also wants Tizen to become the OS of choice in emerging markets, like India and Indonesia, where demand for cheaper smartphones has exploded.

There will be winners and losers in the showdown for world domination coming to mobile computing. It's America vs. Asia — and the stakes could not be higher.

There has been a lot of discussion of what went wrong with BlackBerry. And there is no shortage of explanations: The company grew complacent with its early market share. It didn’t listen to consumers but tried to show them what they wanted. It never succeeded in courting developers. It neglected touchscreens too long. It never leveraged its messenging service into new businesses. Its leaders bickered over how to fix the company. And so on.

Right now, the bigger question facing the company is what could go wrong from here. In the past few weeks, the writing on the wall has become clearer. Losses are mounting so quickly the company burned though $1 a share in cash last quarter. The company said it would cut a third of its employees and take an inventory writedown as large as $960 million. On Wednesday Blackberry BBRY said it was losing its international market share. Now, Fairfax Financial, its largest investor, is looking to arrange a buyout to take the company private.

A related question, of course, is what could go right, and the answer here seems to be: not much. A merger with a deep-pocketed tech giant? Unlikely. A Dell-like DELL turnaround as a private company, emerging in two years with more competitive phones? Odds are strongly against it. A breakup into patents, messaging service, and devices? Maybe, but that’s hardly a happy ending.

So much of the analysis of BlackBerry’s future has accented the negative. As much as the bulls would like to see a comeback, there remain several factors that are working against one, and they are pretty formidable.

The most immediate threat is that the financing of the buyout may fall through. Fairfax needs lenders or co-investors to finance the proposed deal. The company has been exploring options for the past year, and if a private-equity firm wanted in, they already had their chance. BlackBerry has been a tech luminary for Canada, so Canadian pension funds may want to step up, but fiduciary responsibilities could also prompt some of them to balk from backing this deal.

That reluctance comes in spite of BlackBerry’s bargain-basement valuation. The stock is priced at a fifth of the company’s revenue of the past 12 months, according to Bloomberg. By contrast, Microsoft MSFT paid 0.4 times Nokia's NOK trailing 12-month revenue from devices and services. Already there are signs that Fairfax may lower its bid to $7 a share from the original $9 a share figure.

Fairfax has a nice piece of insurance in case the deal falls through. BlackBerry agreed to pay Fairfax a $157 million breakup fee, a high amount by historical standards. That could leave Fairfax with a handsome payout for only a few months of looking for other backers. And would deter others from proposing rival deals in the meantime.

Should a deal fall through, Blackbery’s value may fall to $5 a share, Bernstein Research estimates. The company’s patents, valued at around $2.8 billion, may not sell as high as they would have been a year or so ago, when Google GOOG, Microsoft, and others were paying rich premiums for them. Now these companies have robust portfolios of patents, and if they want to add to them, they’re unlikely to overpay.

In the meantime, the longer things remain uncertain, the more customers and partners will want to back away from the company. This is already happening with manufacturing partner Jabil CircuitJBL, and T-MobileTMUS. And clients like Morgan StanleyMS are delaying upgrades to new BlackBerry devices as well. If such trends continue, it would hurt revenue even more and make a turnaround that much less likely.

The constant stream of bad news has already dampened BlackBerry’s consumer brand in an era where mobile devices have become as much about branding as anything. The decline in BlackBerry’s average selling price suggests the phones that are selling are older models, not the Z10 and Q10 that the company developed for years. While those new phones have their fans, they’ve failed to resonate with a broad segment of the consumer market.

That’s too bad, because BlackBerry’s best chances were the Z10 and Q10. They might have sold better in a less competitive market than the smartphone one is right now, but Blackberry’s struggles tarnished their image.

In retrospect, the Z10 and Q10 may be seen as BlackBerry’s best chance for a sure turnaround. For now, however, there are more things going against this company than there are in its favor.

The computer in your office is made by … well, it doesn’t matter who it’s made by. Unless you are in a creative profession, that computer is run on Microsoft Windows. And the phone in your pocket is made by Nokia NOK, or — if you’re feeling stylish — Motorola. Apple AAPL made your mp3 player (yeah, back when we still called them mp3 players), and Samsung made your display screen, or your TV screen, or both.

Just close your eyes and go back to that crazy 2006 mindset (here’s a link to help, if you need it). Apple was killing it on iPods and iTunes, not in its original mission of personal computers. Google GOOG was just a search engine, a filthy rich search engine. Nokia still ruled mobile phones, although Motorola’s Razr owned popular culture. And Microsoft MSFT? It was still Microsoft, the grating white noise of personal computing that Bill Gates designed the company to be.

In the seven years since, so much has changed, which in the tech world isn’t notable. What’s strange is how it changed. Apple’s mp3 player mutated into a mobile phone that changed everything. And it mutated again into the iPad, changing the personal computer. Yet somehow Samsung sold more smartphones using an operating system powered by, of all companies, Google.

And Motorola? Its mobile-device business was bought by Google. And Nokia? Its core devices business has been bought by Microsoft. The software companies began to eat the hardware companies because they needed to act like Apple, which married software to hardware … oh, three decades ago. And search ate Motorola smartphones. And Windows consumed Nokia smartphones. And Samsung, the maker of those excellent TV screens in 2006, sat there sticking its tongue out at everyone else.

And no one — no great master of the chess board that is the technology landscape — saw this coming. Maybe one part of it, yes, but not all of it. Because if you live in the past or the present, none of it could possibly make sense. This is all about a bunch of wild guesses about the future.

So what are we to make of Microsoft and Nokia? In the past day or so, there has been so much to say. Opinions on the deal run the gamut from approval to scoffing to the purely perplexed. (Mostly scoffing, however.) But how are we really to know? The evolution of the mobile web has surprised longtime web observers the same way the desktop web surprised everyone involved with the tech industry that preceded it. Only, in some ways, the mobile web has offered even more surprises.

People who in 2006 couldn’t predict what 2013 would bring to tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Samsung, Nokia, and Motorola are now confidently tweeting the future of Microsoft and Nokia. People who could make no good sense of Google-Motorola two years ago (I’d wager Larry Page was among them) have a sure view of where Microsoft-Nokia will go. And good for them.

Yes, this deal may very well amount to tying two sinking bricks together, etc. And both Microsoft and Nokia face uphill battles. But at the same time, in the early days of September 2013, the only honest analysis you can give is that a mobile web everyone saw coming yielded a competitive landscape few expected. And if we can’t foresee which company will be on top in another several years, the best we can do is look at similar deals that have happened in recent years.

Which brings us to Google’s purchase of Microsoft, announced a little more than two years ago. At the time, people struggled to understand the sense of it. People speculated, as they do with Microsoft’s Nokia investment, it had to do with patents. That Google would simply spin off Motorola’s manufacturing operations. At the time, it seemed like the most likely explanation.

But Larry Page, Google’s new CEO, took a different direction. He held onto the Motorola devices that had been outmoded by Apple’s iPhone. Although Motorola has been a drag on Google’s earnings since then, the move seems prescient now. Software hasn’t just supplanted hardware in the past decade. It needs hardware as an ancillary business. Microsoft’s unexpected introduction of the Surface underscored that idea. And now its Nokia deal makes it seem that much more inevitable.

In other words, many companies can produce software on their own, but once you get big enough, you need hardware in the mix to stay on top of the game. The old clich? that the line between hardware and software was blurring has become an industry maxim. Software giants are doubling as hardware companies — Google 2010 (Motorola), Microsoft 2012 (Surface) and 2013 (Nokia). Others going it alone — like Amazon AMZN and Samsung — will have to adapt. Still others, like Apple (early 1980s), took this route years ago.

The mobile revolution at the center of technology innovation today may be protean and hard to predict, but one thing is certain: The old lines — like what is a PC and what is a portable device, or what is a software company and what is a hardware maker — are dissolving. Yes, Microsoft and Nokia may be several years late to this game, but at least they’re there.

FORTUNE — One of the "Big Three" mobile computing giants - Google, Apple or Microsoft – could win big by picking up a loser: the once great BlackBerry. Despite its poor sales and sad marketing, BlackBerry BBRY actually has a great deal to offer a strategic acquirer with its secure data network, loyal corporate clientele and slew of valuable patents. But that's not all. Such a deal also offers some sweet tax advantages for the Big Three as Blackberry could possibly be paid for using foreign earnings that have yet to be taxed by U.S. authorities.

BlackBerry's failure to admit defeat has come at a great cost to its shareholders. In 2008, the mobile pioneer had a market value topping $84 billion and commanded more than 50% of the smartphone market. Five years later, the company's market value, as of the close of last week, came in at $4.8 billion, while its share of the smartphone market had fallen to a pathetic 3%.

The company made many missteps during that time, but, in a nutshell, BlackBerry missed the boat when it came to developing bespoke applications that made using the mobile web easier and faster for consumers. It also took years to offer a truly usable consumer-focused touch screen with a decent operating system.

The unveiling of the "BlackBerry 10" series smartphones and operating system earlier this year were valiant attempts by the company’s new management to reenter the consumer market. The phones were comparable to other high-end phones on the market, and the operating system was smooth and relatively easy to use. But the 10 wasn't a game changer in any sense of the word and was simply too little too late. Consumers had already been locked into either Apple AAPL, Google GOOG or Microsoft's MSFT operating platforms. Moving from one of the other platforms back to BlackBerry would have entailed large switching costs, which ultimately proved too high of a hurdle for consumers to leap over.

On Monday Blackberry formally announced that it had formed a special committee to explore strategic alternatives that would "enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment." The company said it was open to all alternatives, including "possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions."

Going private doesn't really offer Blackberry any real advantages at this point. It would have been better to do so a couple years ago or during the leverage buy-out boom, but not today. Sure, it is easier to chop up and sell the company while it is private, but Blackberry's assets have a degrading shelf life. The time it would take to rustle up all the offers and to go private and then to negotiate deals is too long of a time table. The 10 series would look ancient by then and the company would have burned up more of its $3.1 billion cash pile for nothing. The time to sell BlackBerry to a strategic competitor is now, not tomorrow.

Apple, Google and Microsoft could each leverage Blackberry's platform to make them more competitive as the three companies wrestle for the last bits of the smartphone market. For example, the iPhone's iMessage feature, which allows users to send free text messages to other iPhone users, has been an easy and cost effective way for Apple to lock people into its network. There is really no universal equivalent of iMessage on Google's Android operating platform or Microsoft's Window's platform, yet, despite rumors that they both were developing such a system. Blackberry's BBM system is similar to iMessage and is extremely popular in places as diverse as the United Kingdom and Haiti. Incorporation of BBM into their platforms would not only put Google and Microsoft on equal footing with Apple in the free text market, but it would also give them a built-in set of consumers from around the globe who can help spread their platform to other users. That alone could be worth billions of dollars of future revenue down the line.

In addition to BBM, BlackBerry offers the Big Three something none of them have but could really use - a truly secure data network. This is probably BlackBerry's strongest advantage. Sending and receiving emails through the BlackBerry data network provides a much safer conduit for businesses that want to keep their communications private. BlackBerry customers include all the large Wall Street banks as well as the Department of Defense. These clients have servers hardwired into their IT infrastructure that allow them to access the closed BlackBerry network and provide a safe and relatively secure way for their employees to send and receive emails and data. The technology behind the network is protected by thousands of patents, which some have estimated to be worth as much as $1 billion just on their own.

In addition to the technology, Blackberry also offers a buyer some significant tax advantages. Google, Apple and Microsoft have billions of dollars of cash parked offshore gathering virtual dust in foreign banks. The Big Three accumulated these cash piles by selling their products and services through their numerous foreign operating subsidiaries. The amount of cash we are talking about here is simply staggering. At last count Google had $33 billion; Microsoft had $61 billion; and Apple had $83 billion, according to U.S. PIRG, a federation of public interest research groups. Normally a company would redistribute that cash to its shareholders, not just sit on it. But since the cash was made abroad, it hasn't been taxed by U.S. authorities.

The only thing these companies can really do with their cash hoards would be to somehow reinvest it abroad in some sort of foreign venture. With few capital projects on their plate, the money has just be piling up. But they don't have to build something - they can also acquire something. Blackberry is a Canadian company and could be acquired using funds from the foreign reserves.

This is not an unprecedented move. For example, Johnson and Johnson, aided by its bankers at Goldman and JPMorgan, devised a scheme that allowed it to use part of its foreign cash pile to acquire Swiss medical device maker Synthes last summer for nearly $20 billion.

Microsoft used $8.5 billion of its foreign cash hoard to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype in 2011. Clearly it isn't shy about making big acquisitions and seems comfortable tapping its untaxed foreign cash hoard to make it happen. Microsoft has been struggling to break into the smartphone market for years now and acquiring Blackberry could allow it to gain an edge within the corporate arena. Pretty much every major business in the U.S. uses Microsoft Exchange servers for their email, so acquiring Blackberry would have the added benefit of securing its leading position inside U.S. corporate IT infrastructure.

Apple has never done a multi-billion dollar acquisition, but it may be time to break that streak. It has been rapidly losing market share to Google's Android platform, which spans an array of devices, including Samsung's Galaxy line of phones. Meanwhile, the company's revenue from its iTunes store is under attack by all-you-can-eat music services, like Spotify, and film and television services like Hulu and NetFlix NFLX. Gaining a secure network would set the iPhone apart from other smart phones and would instantly make the iPhone the choice for Corporate America.

Google has done big deals in the past, like its acquisition of YouTube, DoubleClick and Motorola Mobility, so the company isn't afraid of dropping some major coin on what it wants. Adding features from Blackberry's 10 operating system would help smooth out some of Android's rough edges while adding BBM would allow it to finally compete against Apple's iMessage. Google's Android apps already interface well with the Blackberry 10 line of phones, so synergy with existing software and hardware should be relatively simple.

Years of complacency and mismanagement turned Blackberry into a shadow of its former self.

The company now lacks the distribution platform to make a comeback. Nevertheless, Blackberry still has some hidden gems locked up in its vault. By using virtually tax-free cash, Google, Apple or Microsoft can take those gems for a song and use them to gain an advantage in escalating struggle for dominance in the mobile market. It now all comes down to price.

The Japanese were using their cellphones to watch TV, navigate with GPS, download music, make movies, pay bills, and check their emails years before American consumers were doing the same. Japan also had touchscreen phones eight years earlier than iPhone — the Pioneer J-PE01. And yet it is no surprise that Apple's iPhone was the best-selling phone in Japan last year. After over a decade of trouncing any foreign handset looks and talent-wise, Japan's legendary keitai are being given the heave-ho in favor of foreign models.

Take NEC, once one of the world's biggest IT and telecoms firms. Its fortunes have been typical of the other seven Japanese handset makers. After two years of losses and a stock value that has fallen over 90% in a decade, it is selling off its mobile phone sales unit and cutting 10,000 mobile related jobs. Analysts say the firm can't compete anymore with Apple AAPL and Korea’s Samsung.

What happened? Japanese mobile phone guru Nobuyuki Hayashi believes there are three main reasons Japan has fallen out of love with its own handset makers. First, he says, you have to understand what a colossal and unexpected hit the iPhone was with Japanese women. "The iPhone has been very strong among women from very early on. The original round plastic iPhone 3G series soon become a fashion item for Japanese women who also enjoyed the huge variation of cases and ease of decoration. Then there is the brand loyalty of Japanese women."

Japan had phones just as good-looking as the iPhone. The once popular Infobar candy bar phone even won international design prizes. But the craze for the iPhone, despite lacking all the bells and whistles Japanese telecoms executives thought were indispensable (e-wallet, TV, etc) proved overwhelming.

According to IDC Japan, the iPhone was the No. 1 best-seller for 2012 in both handsets and smartphones. Quite a feat for a phone that the country's ketai-watchers and industry leaders said would fail at the start. Apple now has 15% market share putting it ahead of Japan's Sharp and Fujitsu, which both enjoy 14% of the market according to IDC. Japan's top mobile provider, NTT Docomo DCM, which does not carry the iPhone, hit back by promoting mostly foreign-made smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy.

But this won't help the attempts to defeat Apple according to Mr. Hayashi who says that the way the phone industry operates here leads to an inferior product. "The phone operators produce almost each and every mobile phones sold in Japan. Even the phones by Nokia NOK or Samsung are modified to match the special requirement by the operators to include features that operators believe are important such as e-wallet, One-Seg TV receiver and wide range of special services by the operators," he says.

"iPhone still is about the only phone in Japan which is sold unmodified (i.e. just the way the manufacturer has it produced)."

He adds that such tinkering makes the phones — based on Android GOOG — too feature-heavy, too complicated, and unstable battery drainers.

Thirdly, he suggests that the software that Japanese add to foreign phones and that is found in domestic-bred devices is no match for Apple's or an unadulterated Samsung. "As Steve Jobs once said, Japanese manufacturers’ biggest mistake is they didn’t realize how important software technology has become. Most of the executives at Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers were hardware engineers, and they don’t get the importance of software or how software business works." he says.

There is, however, a silver lining for Japanese electronic companies making parts for Japan's and the globe's smartphones. Japan Inc. may have failed to produce a phone to set the world on fire, but Japanese electronics makers still produce roughly 50% of parts for all our smartphones and that includes Apple's iPhone. "Japan's phone makers have less market share here than five years ago, it's true, but the value of sales here is offset (by many times) compared to the volumes of components they provide to every single maker shipping globally over that same period of time," points out Japan mobile market consultant Lars Cosh-Ishii at Mobiyko.

"And it’s not just hardware. Nobody seems to mention the IP aspect of Japan Inc.'s contribution to wireless industry. Its critical patents for 3G enable billions of handsets around the world to connect to the network." His message is as the cradle of the modern mobile, Japanese innovation might still engender a phone that pushes all the right buttons and astounds the world once more.

]]>http://fortune.com/2013/05/06/how-the-iphone-conquered-japan/feed/0srivathslakshmiWorking glass at Corninghttp://fortune.com/2013/05/06/working-glass-at-corning/
http://fortune.com/2013/05/06/working-glass-at-corning/#commentsMon, 06 May 2013 12:11:59 +0000http://test-alley.fortune.com/2013/05/06/working-glass-at-corning/]]>To make glass is to know failure. A glassmaker begins with powders of oxides, stirring them into a platinum crucible, then sticking the batch in an oven heated to 2,912? F, where the oxides liquefy into a molten state. He then removes the crucible, and the liquid cools and hardens into glass — an amorphous solid. A team analyzes its chemical makeup and “seeds” (a.k.a. bubbles). But to really know glass, to get a sense of its strength, you must break it. So someone bends and hammers and sometimes throws baseballs at the glass until it scratches or cracks or shatters. He studies the fractures, which reveal the glass’s secrets. Glass fails, the researchers learn from the failure, and the cycle repeats.

The making and breaking and remaking of glass has been happening for 162 years at Corning. One of Corning’s early customers was Thomas Edison, who needed a way to mass-manufacture his incandescent lights. The company constructed the ribbon machine — “The only machine that’s made nearly every light bulb you’ve seen in your life,” says David Morse, Corning’s chief technology officer. Morse arrived at Corning’s upstate New York headquarters (the town is a company town; it bears the company name) 36 years ago to work on creating glass that would respond to light.

Soon Morse’s work shifted to telecom. In the 1970s Corning began developing glass tubes that could carry information in pulses of light: fiber optics. As the Internet rose, so did Corning’s stock. But then the dotcom bubble burst, and the company found itself in need of another hit. Serendipitously, Steve Jobs called. He wanted a thin and very strong glass for Apple’s new smartphone. And he wanted it in production in six months. Corning (No. 326 on the Fortune 500) dusted off and modified an old project it had first pitched to the auto industry 50 years earlier, modified it, and ended up with Gorilla Glass, a line that nearly all glass touchscreens are made of today. Sales have doubled every year since it was first introduced in 2008.

Glass can be made even thinner, stronger, better. Teams at Corning are embedding inorganic, bacteria-killing ions into glass; making bendable glass so thin it can be rolled up in great spools; and designing a new type of fiber-optic cable that can carry cellphone signals and pick up Wi-Fi. “The scale of glass, what you can do with it today — it’s wonderfully different,” Morse says.

This story is from the May 20, 2013 issue of Fortune.

]]>http://fortune.com/2013/05/06/working-glass-at-corning/feed/0130502161301-fio20-bsrivathslakshmiThe one chart that shows the dominance of the smartphonehttp://fortune.com/2013/03/29/the-one-chart-that-shows-the-dominance-of-the-smartphone/
http://fortune.com/2013/03/29/the-one-chart-that-shows-the-dominance-of-the-smartphone/#commentsFri, 29 Mar 2013 12:14:10 +0000http://test-alley.fortune.com/2013/03/29/the-one-chart-that-shows-the-dominance-of-the-smartphone/]]>There’s no doubt that the smartphone kickstarted a revolution. But the extent to which this is true in music and other media isn’t yet fully appreciated. Consider this: Some 20 million people paid for music subscriptions last year. And an estimated 80 million tap into “freemium” streaming services such as Pandora P and Slacker. A decade after the iTunes Store opened — it will pass the 100 billion downloads mark this year–another technological shift is changing listening habits. In many cases, that may be causing music fans to ease their dependence on Apple AAPL. For proof, look at this chart from the April 8, 2013 issue of Fortune. The story titled “Apple’s streaming-music problem” details the rapidity with which consumers have embraced streaming music services. The catalyst? The smartphone — as the graph below shows: